What Comes Next…

 

I sent my revised manuscript to the agent on Sunday.

1000 lbs off my shoulders.

And Monday morning I faced a new unknown…

What comes next.

I still had blog posts and social media stuff to do.

But this was a week without drafting or revising. A week off from novel writing.

So I started with shaving my legs and taking out the garbage.

Things I neglected during my writing.

I walked the dog.

I called all the doctors I needed to make appointments with.

I scheduled a 4-day trip to NY to see them and my friends.

And I finally deleted all the junk in my old email account.

Then I got to work. Because I can’t not work.

I started drafting a list of editors and agents to query when I finish revising my next book, a YA fantasy.

Prep work. Groundwork for the next novel.

Because it is always good to be prepared.

And though the waiting is hard, I’m going to do what I always do: keep moving forward.

Posted in Personal, Uncategorized, Writing | Tagged , , , , , , | 32 Comments

Reblog: August McLaughlin’s Daydreams Really Do Come True

As I’m finishing up revisions on my manuscript, I needed a shot of August’s infectious positivity. This is one of my favorite posts by her and I’ve wanted to share it for a while. Please enjoy:

http://augustmclaughlin.wordpress.com/2012/09/13/daydreams-really-do-come-true/

Posted in guest blogs, Personal, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , | 32 Comments

Going From Good to Great–Revising a YA novel: SCBWI Highlights

The final SCBWI intensive workshop I attended was one of the best workshops at the conference. Deborah Halverson “edited children’s books for ten years—until she climbed over the desk and tried out the author’s chair on the other side. Now she is the award-winning author of the teen novels.”

She gave us the top 10 markers for larger mistakes in manuscripts and actual fixes for them. Her talk added more tools to my revision toolbox because she presented tangible, actionable things that I could apply to my manuscript.

One of the most important ones is “Stop Looking” and this relates to voice.

Is there is a lot of stares, looks, and smiles filling narrative beats in your manuscript?

Then you may have a tendency toward generic action and passive voice.

To diagnose this issue, do a search and count (this can be done with the control+F function in Word) of all the times you use words like:

  • Look
  • Stare
  • Gaze
  • Smile
  • Feel
  • Thought
  • Frown
  • Laugh
  • Turn to
  • Nodded

Everytime you use “feel” or “thought” you are telling the reader not showing them. You want to let the reader be the judge of what is happening.

This is the most common problem for new writers.

So how do you fix this problem?

  • You fill scenes with action.
    • Have characters interacting with setting props.
      • Make interactions specific and unique–change a hair flip to spearing an apple.
    • Make scene messier–instead of sitting around chatting have them hunting or at dance class. Give them something to do that’s interesting while they talk.
    • Use dynamic language–instead of sitting in a chair lounge in it.

If you’d like to learn more about her revision techniques, you can check out her book Writing YA Fiction for Dummies. You can also read her responses and ask her questions at Dear Editor.

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Harris Ranch–The Best Lunch of my Lifetime

A few hours into our roadtrip from LA to Napa, we reach The Harris Ranch Restaurant. Located in the middle of America’s breadbasket, which produces a large portion of our food source.

It’s not just a lunch spot but a resort destination. We loved the decorations in the main building, including this gorgeous chandelier.

I wish we were going home and could bring the fresh cut meat. Alas, we were enroute to Napa. Their country store was adorable. Only drawback, they had jams you could get at any country store. I prefer when destinations have things only specific to that region.

I love me some country music and some country decor. This chair is awesome.

The restaurant had comfy booths and kitchy decor.

I got the pot roast with mashed potatoes and fresh sweet corn. OMG. The food was sooooo fresh. I wish I lived on a farm and could eat like this everyday. The corn didn’t need butter–it was so tasty and sweet on its own. The carrots were yummie. The meat so tender. The potatoes dear God the potatoes.

And the cheddar biscuits. Sigh. I long for them.

This is what the resort looked like from the parking lot. There were several other building off to the side and behind the main building.

Posted in Personal, Travel, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , | 34 Comments

Things Grandma H Said at the Mall

I’m at Ihop with Grandma H and she says, “You should go to a drive by.”

I ask, “You mean a drive through?”

“What’s the difference?”

“One I get shot at, the other I order my food to go.”

She giggles. “The other one then.”
******

We are sitting in Ihop and I start to take off my long sleeve shirt  because it’s warm and I’m wearing a tank top underneath.

Grandma H exclaims, “Are you going to strip?”

“Just to my tank top today.”

*****
When we are seated at Ihop, an older couple is seated behind Grandma H. We all get our menus at about the same time. Grandma H and my food arrives. We are half-way done eating, when the waitress appears at the table behind us and they start asking lots of questions about the menu.

Grandma H asks, “They didn’t order yet?”

“Nope.”

She whispers, “Are they old?” (Note: Grandma H is in her early 80s.)

“Yeah, they gotta be pushing 90.”

“They don’t have time for this,” she says.

I snort.

“They’ll be here all night,” she says.

I mention, “It always surprises me how much slower people get when they are toward the end of their lives. You think with that limited time, they’d do things faster.”

She cackles, “I know.”

A while later, the waitresses come to sing “Happy Birthday” to the little girls at the other end of our row of booths.

Grandma H says, “I hope that’s not for the old couple, they’ll be dead by the time the singers get down here.”

******

We are walking through the mall and a man is covered from scalp to toe in soot or grease walks toward us. Grandma H uses her outdoor voice and demands, “Where did he come from?”

I remind her, “That was really loud. Try to use your indoor voice or keep those kind of thoughts in your head.”

“Alright, but WHERE DID HE COME FROM? You saw him. Covered in dirt. Walking around. He must have escaped from prison.”

“Or he was working underground or as a mechanic.”

“He was filthy.”

“Maybe he needed to run an errand on his lunch break.”

“He shouldn’t come out in public like that.”

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Reblog: Heist Society–Book Review

Battling a stomach virus this week, so I’d like to reblog a book review I wrote in 2011…

This was supposed to post on Friday, but I’m running a fever and quite stupid. I accidentally posted 2 posts on Tuesday. That’s it for the week. Clearly, I need to step away from the blog posting until I feel better. I’ll do my best to be coherent in the comments.

I dub Ally Carter “The Queen of Pacing”. Never have I read such a rapid-paced, unputdownable YA book.

You can read the rest of the book review in the original post here:

http://kourtneyheintz.wordpress.com/2011/06/28/heist-society-book-review/

Posted in Book Review, Uncategorized, Writing | Tagged , , , , , , , | 16 Comments

Writing and Selling Your Novel–Book Review

I can’t remember how Writing and Selling Your Novel was recommended to me, but it was definitely worth reading.

I love books on writing because they are like attending mini-conferences. Lots of topics are covered that make me think about writing in different ways. Usually sparking a breakthrough or giving me a new technique when editing or drafting.

I’ve been reading this book for a couple months because the chapters are wonderfully divided up into individual topics and lessons. Each has exercises to try too.

I really loved how he explained  Stimulus and Response. It gave me a new way to analyze the flow of my writing.

One of the best takeaways is: “Whenever you show something happening (a stimulus), you must show something else happening as a result (a response); and whenever you desire a certain thing to happen  a response), you must show the happening that caused it (the stimulus).”

Sounds simple right?

But one point he made is that when you have dialogue and internalizations in a paragraph, you want to put the line of dialogue at the end of paragraph, if the next paragraph begins with the speaker responding to it.

Stimulus-response at work. It really makes things flow better.

His chapter on Making Story People More Interesting touches on some basic psychological aspects that can be employed to ratchet up the conflict and tension.

I found the transactional analysis theory very useful in understanding an argument in my current novel. The idea is that there are 3 ego states: parent, adult, and child.

Conflict happens when there is a cross transaction, which means any of these three talking to one of the other two. So if a parent talks to a child, you’ll get some sparks.

Posted in Book Review, Uncategorized, Writing | Tagged , , , , , , , | 16 Comments

SCBWI Highlights: Your Impact and Agent’s Thoughts on Industry

Gary Schmidt was the final keynote speaker at the SCBWI 41st Annual Summer Conference. He echoed the sentiment about surprises in his own unique way saying, “the only gift that God gives us that he can’t enjoy are surprises.”

He also said, “As writers, never doubt that your stories can change a kid’s life.”

Power stuff there. Realizing the impact a book we write can have on a reader. On a complete stranger we may never meet.

The three day conference ended with a book signing party. BTW, it’s a great way to find new books to read, talk to debut authors, and meet fellow writers in line.

The next day, I attended an additional intensive with agents, hearing their take on lots of aspects of the publishing industry. Here are a few of my takeaways:

  • Editors are looking for award winning books and bestsellers. Agents try to take on books with the potential to do that.
  • Agents do prioritize conference attendees queries over cold queries.
  • As a writer, it’s important to stop and think about what you want your career to be. Whatever you want your career to be, it can be. But be honest with yourself, can you produce 2-4 books a year or 1 book every 2-3 years?
  • Sometimes in auctions it’s not the highest dollar value that wins. Authors need to find an editor whose vision for the book matches the author’s vision.
  • Agents must feel intense/passionate about your book to take it on. Must live with it for a while.
  • Agents are advocates for writers.
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Reblog: Passion Feature on Fervour and Forever with Cat Forsley

The lovely Catherine Forsley did a feature on me today for her Fervour & Forever blog. Please check it out if you have a second.

http://fervourforever.wordpress.com/2012/09/18/passion-feature-4-kourtney-heintz-cat-forsley/

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SCBWI Highlights: Nonattachment and Editor/Publisher Advice

Tim Ditlow of Amazon Publishing shared some gems with us including the importance of non-attachment. He grew up with his dad working in audiobooks and saw the rise and fall of records, cassette tapes, cds. He likes to believe that “it’s the coffee, not the cup.”

 

I think his point extends to not getting bogged down in debates over paper books versus e-books. Those are just the cups. Not the coffee. Not the content, just the method of delivery.

Arthur Levine had a workshop devoted to answering everyone’s questions. He gave some important advice about when authors submit to editors. If an editor wants to buy your book, DON’T start negotiating and then bring in an agent. If you have an agent, you should put the editor in touch with them to negotiate your contract.

 

If you get an editor’s interest, go with your good fortune. Ask yourself why did you pursue an editor if not ready to do a contract by yourself. He also stressed the importance of not always doing what others think you should. It’s about what you want for your manuscript. Just because someone tells you to cut it down, doesn’t necessarily mean you should.

 
With respect to genre, you told us not to worry about it because it is the publisher’s job to decide who to market the book to. That was an interesting piece of advice considering how important it is to identify your genre in the query letter. I do think he has a point though. Publishers categorize hundreds of books a year. How many does a writer categorize? Just their own.

Posted in Conferences, Uncategorized, Writing | Tagged , , , , , , | 20 Comments